Tag: natural beauty

Thursday Favourites: July 30th

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Hey friends! Happy Thursday!

This week marks part two of my three-part skincare tool series, and this week I’m going to be sharing a classic with you: my Rose Quartz roller from Herbivore Botanicals!

Yes, I really do use two separate rollers in my routine — one in the morning, and one at night. Because of the similar appearance of this product to my Mount Lai Jade Textured Facial Roller, I can see why a lot of people would mistake them as the same. However, the two have two distinctly different uses. The textured jade roller I shared last week is meant to massage your face and help your skincare products penetrate deeper into your skin, making it the perfect tool to incorporate into your nighttime skincare routine. The rose quartz roller, on the other hand, is smooth and a perfect addition to any morning routine.

This über-smooth, cooling roller helps to de-puff your skin in the morning, leaving you fresh-faced and looking your best. This rose quartz roller, which is naturally cool to the touch, helps to soothe your skin, while also helping over time to diminish fine lines and tone your skin. As well, this little tool helps with lymphatic drainage, which clears any residual build up of toxins or waste in the skin and helps to clear up your skin overall! Plus, the cool crystal on your skin really helps to wake you up in the morning, which is just another added bonus.

For those of you who keep hearing the term “lymphatic drainage” thrown around but don’t really know what it means, hopefully my little explanation can provide a little clarity. When you use a crystal roller on your face, it can help to manually push fluid in the system along, which paired with the cooling effect helps reduce inflammation and boosts circulation. I found an article in the Washington Post that explains it a lot better than I can — as well, it helps build up realistic expectations for using crystal rollers. While they are amazing and I love the results mine brings me, many people tend to overhype them or label them as some type of miracle anti-aging tool. Rose quartz and jade rollers help to properly massage your face and cool your skin, and I think I’ve done a good job of outlining their benefits here. However, they won’t do anything impossible like completely erase wrinkles or completely change your face shape. That isn’t to say that they have no benefits, they absolutely do. However, if you’re looking for some kind of magic cure, you’ll likely only find it in a surgeon’s office.

If this sounds like the facial roller your skincare routine has been missing, you can check out Herbivore Botanical’s Rose Quartz Facial Roller online at Sephora, as well as their original Jade roller, too!

However, for whatever reason, if you’re looking into purchasing a jade roller elsewhere — I’m going to share with you a little tip I’ve learned for making sure you’re purchasing a proper, good-quality crystal roller.

While I mainly purchased the rose quartz roller for the ~aesthetic~, since I trust Herbivore to provide high-quality tools with proper ingredients, not all Jade roller sellers are quite the same. There’s definitely people out there who sell completely fake jade rollers and price them as though they are made of real jade. Apart from wasting your money, fake jade rollers are often made of glass and do not have the same innate cooling effect (and therefore will not have the same results). However, at any price point your roller likely isn’t real jade — the real deal is awfully expensive. As such, you don’t likely know what exactly your roller is made of.

On the other hand, rose quartz is a much more common and inexpensive crystal, meaning that barring your roller being made of glass, it will more likely be true authentic rose quartz. As well, rose quartz rollers are said to have extra benefits — such as being less influenced by skin temperature and staying cool for longer, as well as more anti-wrinkle benefits. A quick Google search will tell you everything you need to know about the difference between jade and rose-quartz rollers, however, both for the added benefits and the likelihood that you’re getting exactly what you think you are out of the product, I’d have to recommend rose quartz rollers as my personal choice. If you want to know more, Mount Lai has a guidebook online that answers all kinds of questions about crystal rollers and related products!

Are you a fan of using a roller in your skincare routine? I’d love to hear all about how you use yours, what type it is and what results you’ve seen long term! Drop a comment below and share your experience — good or bad! I love hearing all of your different opinions on products that I share.

Stay tuned next week, for the third and final facial tool that I use in my skincare routine! I hope you guys have been enjoying this little series — I know it’s a little different from my usual Thursday reviews, but I’ve really loved putting it together for you guys! I really love using these skincare tools, and since they make up such a large element of my skincare routines, it seemed like it was only right they all get their own posts.

Happy Thursday, everyone! A little reminder to power through tomorrow and finish this week strong! The weekend will be here before we know it.

Much love,

Meredith

Thursday Favourites: February 6th

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Hey y’all!

So, as many of you may remember, Glow Recipe was one of my top 5 brands I was dying to try in 2020. Well, if you’ve been keeping up with my latest Sephora haul, you’ll know that I’ve already gotten the chance — and needless to say, I’m obsessed. If you’re into skincare, you’ll already know it’s just about impossible to not find posts all over the internet absolutely raving about Glow Recipe’s Watermelon Glow Sleeping Mask. After seeing this product (and it’s numerous glowing reviews) all over the internet, I knew I just had to try it out for myself.

This uber-lightweight mask lists it’s benefits as “a skin-smoothing, radiance-boosting nightly sleeping mask with watermelon, hyaluronic acid, and AHAs that gently exfoliate and refine the look of pores” on Sephora’s website. Not only does it note it’s suitability for all skin types, it also notes that it is gentle enough to be used as an overnight mask, but also has the option to be used as a 10-minute wash-off mask for those with more sensitive skin.

I won’t lie, I was pretty nervous to test this mask out — not only were my expectations very high, but I do have sensitive skin so I was worried it would impact my complexion negatively. For this reason, I’ve only ever used it as a 10-minute mask — which so far, has worked perfectly for me. I was a little skeptical of the idea of an overnight mask starting out — I absolutely despise sleeping on my back, and I didn’t really see how any mask (save for those that are really just extreme moisturizers) could last all night and still require a wash-off in the morning. However, for those of you who’d be interested in using this mask overnight, fear not — it dries into a gentle layer of non-sticky, non-tightening solution, meaning you can sleep on your face and not worry about this mask rubbing off all over your pillowcase.

Now, it’s only been about a month since I purchased this mask, but it really does live up to the standards and rave reviews that drew me in to trying it in the first place. Not only does it do an amazing job of gently resurfacing (meaning you don’t have to worry about exfoliating as often!), it leaves my skin feeling bouncy, smooth, hydrating and fresh. Seriously, my skin was SO soft and glowy, even after the very first use — it honestly blew my mind a little.

Overall, I have to say, I adore this mask. So far, none of my concerns about it have come to fruition, but all the benefits have worked their wonders exactly as everyone says. The texture is so bouncy and lightweight, making it easy to apply and lovely to wear — and as an added bonus, the watermelon scent is to die for. My only remaining concern is that it DOES contain alcohol in it’s formulation; however, as the last ingredient on the list, I have to believe it’s only the smallest amount. So far, it’s had the opposite of a drying effect on my skin, so I don’t think that there’s enough alcohol in this product to cause any harm — but of course, I’ll keep you updated if I notice any changes!

Sound like the face mask your skin has been needing? Be sure to check out this product on Sephora’s website here!

Have you tried Glow Recipe’s Watermelon Glow Sleeping Mask, or anything else off their line? I’d love to hear any and all opinions you guys have — especially if you’ve tried their other products! I’ve been eyeing a couple other items their brand offers for a while now, so I’d love to hear some reviews before I take the leap and try them!

I hope you’re all having a fantastic week, and your first week of February is going well! Personally, I have a crazy busy week ahead — I have a term paper due and I’m preparing for my upcoming trip to Mexico (!!!) so it’s safe to say it’s going to be a long week. Buuuuut, when it’s over I do get to go away on vacation, so it’s all worth it in the end.

Much love,

Meredith